Drunkards and Dragons
The crowd panicked as Red stood over the dead body of Auroborous, who was covered in slime from head to toe. Nobody dared to move away from their places. Red, cleansed the thief's blood from his hands, as he looked at Rum coming towards him, in his hand, there was a fruit shaped in the form of greenish yellow glob. "Is this that same fruit ?" Red spoke as he eyed the fruit and reached in to grab it from Rum's pale arms. "It matched the descriptions as given by him !!!" Rum answered, the sight of blood, creating a vomiting sensation all over his digestive tract. "Well, then there is only one way to find out," Red spoke as he took a bite of the fruit, as he looked at the horizon, and a few Marine Ships that were about to dock on the island. Red was immediately taken back by its stingy taste. Chardonnay, rather than ride along on her ship with the rest of her crew, flew towards the island at a much faster rate. She was propelled on a stream of pure alcohol, her lower have like a funnel of the stuff as she moved across the sky. She landed on the outskirts of town within a couple minutes, though her accompanying ships were still a good distance out. She walked through the town towards the scene of the commotion, scared and fleeing citizens taking note of her Justice coat and pointing her in the direction of her scene of the crime. She found it easily enough, two individuals standing there above an obviously dead body as brazen as you please. She looked between the two, her head tilting to the side "So...which one of you killed him?" He noticed the man with the red hair, who looked shockingly familiar to her for some reason, was eating a Devil Fruit. That could either make this harder or easier for her, but she couldn't tell just yet "Was it you, red? Or maybe the one who looks like he spends waaay too much time indoors." Not only did the taste of Sake fill Red's mouth, thanks to the aftereffect of the Fruits taste, but he was able to pick up the smell of Sake that was coming towards him, which alerted him to the presence and appearance of the Vice-Admiral. "Ah, and I am being stalked by the Marines again, am I ?" he asked Rum, whilst staring at Chardonnay, he continued his conversation, but this time he directed the question towards the Marine. "You do not possess the legendary silver hair, nor do you possess the exotic blend of dark skin, white hair and red eyes, did the Marines appoint another Admiral ? if they did, they have a poor choices." As soon as he uttered those words, greenish-yellow slime began oozing out of his finger tips, sleeves, nostrils. Red's eyes were filled with tears, completely made out of slime. "What do you mean 'who killed him' ?", Red began mocking the Female. "What does it matter who killed him among us? it is clear that both of us are accomplices." Chardonnay looked down at herself. She was wearing a bikini, a shawl wrapped around her waist as a mock skirt and sandals. She made a curious face and looked back at the pirate "Nope, not an Admiral. Those guys are required to wear a suit as a part of their uniform, makes them look more official or something, I dunno." She shrugged nonchalantly "Nah, I'm the Vice Admiral Haigan and I feel like I was a very good choice, thank you very much." When the man started leaking she pulled a face "Um you got a little something..." She started to motion to his face but then circled her hand to gesture at the entirety of his being "Everywhere basically. Kinda freaky Gabababababa!" She laughed a bit, placing her hands on her hips and puffing herself up importantly "It matters because whoever killed him will get the larger bounty. You're both enemies of the World Government, but it would also help decide which of yas I should deal with first so...whodunit?" "Neither one of us !" joked Red. He was straight to the point with his jokes. He knew how the Marines played, he also knew where he stood in the commotion. His face showed few visible signs of him being bored now that the naval officer in front of him, was just a Vice Admiral, but he never showed it off, well he didnt need to, because his facial expression did most of the talking for him. Red was also completely aware of the physical changes that was happening. slowly he began exerting control over the slime, turning them into spheres that attached his body. He was trying his best to push them away, but his apparent lack of control meant the slime particles wouldn't leave away from his body. Rum who had his eyes on the dock, had grown more and more conscience of the Ships belonging to the Marines that were headed to the island. Rum, with a nervous look on his face, left his position next to Red and rushed towards the dock, towards the marines, as if he was ready to face destiny. Char spared the blonde a cursory glance as he moved past her. She reached into her bra and pulled out a small little orb, as big as the tip of her finger. She tossed it over her shoulder without looking, it landing directly in Rum's path. The orb sprouted and grew, quickly turning into a tangle of vines that shaped itself into a humanoid form. A flower took the place of the shape's "head" and it blocked Rum's path in a loose fighting stance. Chardonnay was looking at Red, but when she spoke it was to the blonde "Like I said, both of you are gonna be brought in. My men are gonna secure the island and the crime scene, making sure ya didn't hurt anyone else." She scratched her neck idly and took a more serious, official stance. Her voice carried more authority when she spoke next "And since he ran, I can assume you're the one responsible for the body. With the power vested in me by the Marines and World Government, I charge you with the crimes of murder and piracy. You have two choices: come in willingly to face judgement or die here." Rum was completely taken aback by the monstrosity in front of him, as well as one behind him. Scanning at the monster from top to bottom, he stood there in silence, deep in thought, only to be brought in by Red's words, "What are you waiting for Rum ? slice that monster like bacon for Christmas." "Slice ? he says" where the thoughts that emerged from Rum's disturbed face. "I don't even know what more traps she and this monster is holding. The plant looks carnivorous, which isn't as much of a problem, well unless it is poisonous at the same time. What if it uses some sticky stuff, I have already faced enough sticky situations for today." were the thoughts that ran in Rum's head as he remembered Auroborous's Devil Fruit ability. Red chuckled at the Vice Admirals thought process, "By your logic, do you expect the criminal to be present in the crime scene every time ?" he back questioned Chardonney. Red, knelt down grabbing the body by the neck so as to show its head to the Vice Admiral. "My ass as given better farts than that authoritative speech you just gave. If you speak for Justice ? Let me ask you one question ? You have been referring to this fellow here as a body. Does your justice not entitle you to know the details of the person you are providing justice ? No ! You don't care, You are not justice. You are just an organised Syndicate that uses a wall called justice and shelter yourself away from other people in its name." Red took a deep pause, clenching his fist harder, cutting deep, Auroborous's skin. "This man, who goes by the name Auroborous, is a thief who specialises in women's undergarments. He has been a walking menace in this island for the past three years. The Villagers plea to the Navy, was left in deaf ears. Why ? you ask ? because he is just a petty thief. The Marines ain't got time for that. They go behind us pirates with heavy bounties. In order to fetch reward that supposedly comes from the World Nobles that would help feed themselves and those who live inside the wall named justice." Red proceeded to snap the dead man's neck with his palms, demonstrating monstrous strength. With the head dislocated from the body, the body fell down on the pool of its own blood. The Villagers cries echoed, as the men shielded the eyes of the women and children from the horrendous sight. "Where was your justice when the Villagers pleaded for help for three years ? Yes the villagers are scared of me, why not ? who isn't scared of murderer. But are they grateful to me ? Yes they are. Do you even know why you are here ?" Red spoke pointing his bloodied fingers at Chardonney. "Let me guess, the villagers phoned the Marine HQ saying something along the lines of 'Phoenix D. Red, that notorious pirate, as killed the petty thief',no, they weren't complaining, they were satisfied that their worrisome days were over. But you Marines, only heard my name and my reputation as a pirate. You only came here for the reward, that is all you care." Red stopped his mouth as he blankly stared at the Marine's eyes, waiting for a reaction from her. Chardonnay listened to the man's tirade, her face impassive to everything he said and even to the gruesome beheading of the dead man's corpse. When he was done, she started to laugh. It was small, a soft shaking of her shoulders, then her face split into a growing smile and her voice raised high into the air "GABABABABABABA!!!" After a moment she gathered herself, taking a few deep breaths to contain the errant giggles that tried to break free "I'm sorry, that was just hilarious." She tilted her head, a mocking smile painted on her face as she looked at Red "Do you know why the Marines exist? To balance the power of the world. The pirates are a massive force on the seas, anyone could tell you that. The Marines were established as an organized force to counter that of the pirates." Her tone was matter of fact, almost like she was speaking to a small child "We exist to combat the dangers of pirates at large. We are not in the business of capturing petty thieves, no. And do you know what? Because there are Yonko waging wars, razing islands and wrecking havoc. It's all we can do to keep the chaos at bay." "Nothing was stopping these people from gathering up their own forces and confronting the man, other than their own cowardice or inaction." She didn't speak the words with any malice, she didn't even look at the citizens around them when she mentioned it "I came here because I got report of a pirate committing a murder on this island. Your name was never said because none of our men knew it. You think so much of yourself that you overstate your reputation." Chardonnay sighed and ran her fingers through her bangs absentmindedly "You say that we Marines care only about money but the truth is we get precious little. I won't say there aren't those within our order that are corrupt and abuse their power over others, but the mission of the order as a whole is to promote and enforce justice. And I, personally am here because I cannot, will not abide a callous murderer such as yourself walking free." She started to loosen up, shaking her limbs out and rolling her neck slightly "See, you got me all monologue-y!" She pulled a orange drinking gourd from the shadow of her jacket and popped it open, taking a deep swig of its contents. Once done she capped it and put it away, staring resolutely at Red "I'm ready to kick yer ass, so let's cut the chit-chat ye?" Red, was amused at Chardonney's answer, "Well if that is your justice, prove me your will to carry out your justice. I am a Pirate, I don't care for the people. I assume, I just made a wreck out of his body for the fun of it." He spoke as if in reply to the Chardonney's grunt. Red took a few steps forward with both his hands forward at chest level, as if he was ready to be handcuffed. "Show me how you carry out your justice." he grunted. "Fine then, I will." Her hands blurred in front of her then, forming a series of curious motions between them. She was bending her fingers into odd positions and formations, concentration in her eyes but passivity on her face. When she finished the motions with a forceful clap of her hands before exclaiming "Saketon: Suiyoryūdan no Jutsu!" Chardonnay inhaled sharply before spewing out a torrent of azure liquid. The scent that filled the area after it was released was a tell tale sign of what it was: alcohol. The torrent twisted and writhed before taking the shape of a menacing dragon. With a roar it launched itself at Red with tremendous force, aiming to capture the pirate in its jaws and tear him asunder. At the sound of the clap, Red snapped, jumping backwards as fast as he could to create a long distance between the two of them and also Rum. Red could not believe what he just saw, his opponent was control what looked and smelt of Sake. If it wasn't for the situation he was in, he would have sat around enjoying it or probably tasting it. His eyes shifting between the Sake Dragon and the Marine, he threw three kunai's at the Dragon inbounding on him. The Kunai's were pre-prepared to explode on contact with the Dragons, which they did, causing an explosion that boomed the island and filled the street they were in with carbon smoke. which was a result of one of the kunai's being attached with a smoke bomb. With the distraction creating commotion the island, Red immediately used the smoke as a cover to throw two more slime-covered kunai's towards the Marine. Meanwhile, taking the cue from Red, Rum used the distraction to take two scrolls from his handy bag and made his way across the side-alleyway, using a detour to towards the incoming Marines. Much like Red, Chardonnay was also given cover by the smoke bombs. An opportunity if there ever was one, and kunoichi were trained to exploit any and every opportunity. She tapped her foot against the ground and it rumbled for a moment before parting and seemingly swallowing her whole. She was beneath the surface of the earth as Red threw his kunai, causing them to miss her completely. She moved beneath the earth as easily as a burrowing animal, the earth opening up before her and closing behind her as she went. This was due to her use of haki, imprinting it onto the ground around her and causing it to move as she wanted it to. She positioned herself directly under Red, using her connection to the earth to feel his weight and single his presence out from all those of rushing citizens above her. Once more her hands blurred in movement, though of course this time there was no one to see or hear. They finished in a strange signal and, out of habit, she whispered to herself "Saketon: Sake Kamikiri" Before once more exhaling a blast of alcohol. This was aimed upwards, directly at Red's feet, though instead of a large projectile that took a shape it was a powerful blast that cut clean through the earth and aimed to do the same to the pirate. Meanwhile, Rum would find his path blocked by a sprouting of vines that formed a cage-like arena around him and the plant that had sprouted. It was anchored to the ground, it's feet extending downwards to form the bars of their battle-dome. The flower atop the plant spit out two more seeds, each in turn growing into duplicates of the original. The vines of their hands grew and lengthened into blades with countless thorns adorning them before they rushed the pirate, slicing and slashing at him as they did so. Red stood still, feeling the earths movements to understand the movements made by the Marine. the two kunai's he had thrown earlier seemingly making their way to hit the monstrous plant ahead of him. Although the plant was too thick to be hit by the kunai, the contact made by the kunai on the plant was more than enough for the slime to make its effect. "Hagi Hagi no Rendakunai" spoke Red, as he appeared on top of the Plant and pushed his hand on the top of plants head. With the Hagi Hagi no Mi's power being effective on the plant, it stripped off the plants ability to grow any larger that it normally was, stopping it from completely covering Rum's path. Using the gap to his advantage, Rum proceeded towards the Marines. "Dragon Branch: Seimei Kikan !!!", Red smiled, as he forced the Plant to grow thick roots that shielded him from Chardonney's Kamikiri. Moreover, he used to roots to block her way out to the ground. Standing victoriously on top of the Plant, Red, spoke, "You are strong, I will give you one. I surrender. You can arrest me and my friend. IF we fight any further, the village would be in shambles. I will take the blame." Saying which , he raised both his hands in the air suggesting to Chardonney that he meant what he said. Rum looked in disbelief of what Red just did, the shock in his face, soon turned into smile. "You Bastard, just think about me." Rum faced the Marine Unit in front of him, raising his hands in surrender. Category:Role-Plays